1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting assembly for mounting a mirror to a motor vehicle, and more particularly, in one aspect, to a low-vibration mounting assembly for both a rear view and separate cross-view mirror.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Side view mirrors which are used on buses and trucks are well known in the art as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,883, 4,368,868, 4,500,063, 4,512,634, 5,106,049 and 5,316,257, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Particularly in the case of school busses, it is desirable for mirrors to be mounted so that the driver can see both in front of the vehicle, as well as toward the rear of the vehicle. This enables the driver to see and avoid injuring children passing in front of, or otherwise located in front of, the bus. Mirrors which provide such a front view, usually referred to as cross view mirrors, typically include elliptical convex reflective surfaces, and are typically disposed forward of a front-most portion of a bus. Mirrors which enable the driver to see to the rear, along the sides of the vehicle are known as side view mirrors, or sometimes as rear view mirrors.
Separate side view and cross view mirror assemblies can be provided, or, as in assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,375 can be provided in a single assembly. There are known advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. For example, in the case of the combined structure, the mirror assembly must be mounted as far forward on the vehicle as possible, as well as laterally projecting from the vehicle. This type of mounting of course requires elongated mounting arms which are often prone to vibration. Furthermore, in the prior art mirrors, the mounting arms are generally fixed to the body panels of the vehicle which also vibrate during operation of the vehicle and thus leads to an even greater vibration of the mirror.
Providing separate side view and cross view mirrors allows the rear view mirror assembly to be mounted more rearwardly using shorter arms and thus alleviates the vibration problem for the side view mirror to some degree. However, the second mounting assembly for the cross view mirror can still be subject to vibration for the reasons stated above. Also, two separate mounting assemblies are required.
The mirror mounting assembly are generally screwed or bolted to the vehicle body through holes in the body panels. These holes, especially those made in the fender of the vehicle in the vicinity of the wheel well, expose the bare metal of the body panel to moisture which leads to rust and corrosion developing in the area of the mounting hole. Due to the relatively thin metal used in constructing motor vehicles, in a very short period of time the area around the mounting hole becomes rusted and is no longer structurally sound and thus is no longer able to adequately hold the mounting assembly. This results in having to either repair the body panel and remount the mounting assembly or move the mounting assembly to another location which entails drilling new holes in the body panel. This in turn leaves the body panel in the area of the previously-drilled holes to further deteriorate.
Detachable mirrors are also known, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,883. This mounting utilizes a clamp that engages around the lip of the wheel well of the vehicle and feet that contact the inner face of the fender edge forming the engine compartment. The feet are held in place by tension generated by a rubber element that extends between the feet at the engine compartment and the clamp at the wheel well. The problem with this type of device is that it is easily removed and is thus subject to theft. Furthermore, since the mounting arms are mounted to the body panel there is also the problem of vibrations being amplified by the mounting arms.
Thus, there is clearly still a need for a mounting assembly, particularly for separately mounted rear and cross view mirrors, which alleviates the vibration and mounting problems associated with the prior art devices.